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EVENTS

Live Free Or Die, Octopus Style

Sid’s great escape from the Portobello Aquarium is about to become permanent. ...“We are still trying to catch a new octopus to replace Sid, who will then be set free.”

Bummer for the new guy, of course, but good news for Uncle Sid!

…of course, as PZ points out, Sid has a short life expectancy, so it was probably time to go looking for a replacement anyway, before some little visitor to the aquarium asks why Sid has turned gray and started floating upside-down… So it turns out that freedom’s just another word for no much time to live.

Hey, that’s catchy…

Busted flat in Portobello, hiding in a drainHe was feeling just as trapped as he could beSid escaped from his little tank and tried to make it plainHe’d rather spend his last days in the sea

Five days later, Sid was seen… heading for the doorHe didn’t make it, but you know, at least he triedHe saw an open doorway and he knew what it was forHe knew it had to lead to the other side

Freedom’s just another word for not much time to liveBut better than the drainpipe where he hidThey couldn’t make him happy, so they gave what they could giveAnd it’s good enough to do what they just didGood enough for me, and my octopus, Sid.

From the warm New Zealand ocean, to the Portobello tankHey, Sid, he was an underwater starBut even if they fed him, he couldn’t give them thanksIt ain’t free food, if jail is where you are.

And now that Sid is growing old, and soon is going to die(They don’t live very long, like you or me)His keepers soon will let him go, and he won’t ask them why—If you’re gonna die, you might as well die free.

Freedom’s just another word for not much time to liveBut better than the drainpipe where he hidThey couldn’t make him happy, so they gave what they could giveAnd it’s good enough to do what they just didGood enough for me, and my octopus, Sid.

(la la la la…)

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Lovely! La la la!Oh, I love his predecessor’s story too:”About 10 years ago, an octopus at the aquarium named Harry – after human escape artist Harry Houdini – escaped from the same tank now occupied by Sid, and was halfway up the steps to the nearby University of Otago marine laboratory when found.”He was heading to the science labs??